An Adaptation Of George Orwell's '1984' Is Coming To Broadway

Artists of the company in Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan's adaptation of George Orwell's 1984 directed by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan at the Playhouse Theatre in London. (Photo by robbie jack/Corbis via Getty Images)

A play based on George Orwell’s 1984 is headed to Broadway. If you prefer your dystopian narratives with uncanny resemblances to present-day political realities get your blood pumping, boy, is this the show for you!

Just in time for its newfound relevance, the London stage adaptation of the current bestseller is coming to New York this summer. Starting June 22, you will be free to watch as gifted performers act their way through a regime that might begin to resemble, more and more, our political landscape. Yay!

The play, co-adapted and directed by Robert Icke and produced by Sonia Friedman and Scott Rudin, is slated to open the 2017-2018 Broadway season at the newly-restored Hudson Theater. Unfortunately, it will not be scored by David Bowie.

The timing for the coming play is right on point. Interest in Orwell’s 1984 particularlymushroomed after Donald Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway described White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s lies as “alternative facts.”

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Many described her statement ― which encouraged followers to distrust their senses and trust their elected leaders instead ― as “Orwellian.” Specifically, Conway’s attempt to disguise a lie through convoluted language recalls 1984’s practice of “doublethink,” in which a political regime attempts suppress thought and rewrite history by convincing citizens that, as Orwell put it: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”

Thanks to Conway’s unintended literary allusion, Amazon can hardly keep up with the growing demand for books depicting dystopian dictatorships. If you can’t get your hands on a copy ― or, like our president, you don’t read books ― a Broadway show might be the way to go.